Sergius and Bacchus were soldiers in the Roman army, attached to the household of the Emperor Maximilian. They were Christians. And they were lovers. But it was not for their sexuality these young men were canonized. It was for their faith -- one of history's most poignant ironies, given the church's unflinching campaign against gay love. When ordered to enter the Temple of Jupiter to participate in a sacrificial ceremony to the god, they refused.For this act of defiance, the lovers were stripped of their arms and badges of rank, dressed in women's clothing and led through the streets of Arabissus (near Comana in Cappadocia) -- for a Roman soldier, an abject humiliation.Then they were sent to Resapha in Syria (Augusta Euphratesiae in Mesopotamia), where they were tortured.Bacchus was whipped until his flesh was raw; he died October 1st AD290, confessing his faith in Christ. Sergius's faith faltered with the death of his lover, but was reinforced when Bacchus appeared to him in a vision saying, "I am still with you in the bond of our union." Sergius kept the faith; after torture, he was beheaded on October 7th AD290. Like his lover, he died a martyr to the new religion.

The tomb of S. Sergius at Resapha become a famous shrine and was honoured by great gatherings of Christians because of the frequent miracles there. Sergius and Bacchus became the heavenly protectors of the Byzantine army, with the two Theodores, Demetrius, Procopius and George. Their "acts" are preserved in Latin, Greek and Syria. In AD431, Bishop Alexander of Hierapolis built a magnificent church in his honor. In 434, the town of Resapha was raised to the rank of an episcopal see and was named Sergiopolis and soon became one of the greatest pilgrimage centres of the East. Many churches in many towns bore the name of Sergius (sometimes with Bacchus) and in the seventh century, a church was dedicated to them in Rome.

During the Middle Ages, the relationship of Sergius and Bacchus was considered an exemplar of compassionate union, and possibly even marriage, based on agape (brotherly love) and mutual respect.

Sergius and Bacchus were soldiers in the Roman army, attached to the household of the Emperor Maximilian. They were Christians. And they were lovers. But it was not for their sexuality these young men were canonized. It was for their faith -- one of history's most poignant ironies, given the church's unflinching campaign against gay love. When ordered to enter the Temple of Jupiter to participate in a sacrificial ceremony to the god, they refused.For this act of defiance, the lovers were stripped of their arms and badges of rank, dressed in women's clothing and led through the streets of Arabissus (near Comana in Cappadocia) -- for a Roman soldier, an abject humiliation.Then they were sent to Resapha in Syria (Augusta Euphratesiae in Mesopotamia), where they were tortured.Bacchus was whipped until his flesh was raw; he died October 1st AD290, confessing his faith in Christ. Sergius's faith faltered with the death of his lover, but was reinforced when Bacchus appeared to him in a vision saying, "I am still with you in the bond of our union." Sergius kept the faith; after torture, he was beheaded on October 7th AD290. Like his lover, he died a martyr to the new religion.

The tomb of S. Sergius at Resapha become a famous shrine and was honoured by great gatherings of Christians because of the frequent miracles there. Sergius and Bacchus became the heavenly protectors of the Byzantine army, with the two Theodores, Demetrius, Procopius and George. Their "acts" are preserved in Latin, Greek and Syria. In AD431, Bishop Alexander of Hierapolis built a magnificent church in his honor. In 434, the town of Resapha was raised to the rank of an episcopal see and was named Sergiopolis and soon became one of the greatest pilgrimage centres of the East. Many churches in many towns bore the name of Sergius (sometimes with Bacchus) and in the seventh century, a church was dedicated to them in Rome.

During the Middle Ages, the relationship of Sergius and Bacchus was considered an exemplar of compassionate union, and possibly even marriage, based on agape (brotherly love) and mutual respect.

That's the most ridiculous thing ever. They were brothers who loved each other, nothing to do with sexuality.

Well, I am fully in support of respect for homosexual relationships, but I have to ask: which 'Middle Ages' are you referring to, in which these two were examples of 'compassionate union, and possibly even marriage, based on agape (brotherly love) and mutual respect'?

I just find this unlikely. We must remember that until pretty recently, the idea of sexual love, even within marriage, was something that was kept very private and special. As far as I know (and ok, I'm western-biased), in the Middle Ages people only really idealize heterosexual love when it is represented as transcending erotic love.

By the way ... there are quite a lot of interesting threads to read on this and related subjects here.

This is old story, JoisephBReyes, and it's been covered some one billion times in the past years on this forum. Go and check the answers from an Orthodox perspective, and maybe your confusion over love and sex will be clarified once and for all.To synthetize, the word for 'lover' in the Agiography of Serge and Bacchus is "erastes". Everybody takes the word for meaning "sexual lover" just because it comes from "eros". But would you say that "God is sex"? Well, if sex and eros are synonims, evidently st. John was saying this in his writings, odd huh? LOLEros is an exclusive bidirectional kind of love which, you like it or not, includes but doesnt' coincide with the definition of 'romantic love' at certain times. The brotherhoods of which you quote the existence were mutual bidirectional exclusive fraternal loves between two men who wanted to be friends for their entire lives. Sometimes they built up a relationship similar to a partnership. The same rites you quote, for example, use even st. Peter and st. Paul as examples... but would you say they were gay?

In Christ, Alex

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"Also in the Catholic Church itself we take great care that we hold that which has been believed everywhere, always, by all. For that is truly and properly Catholic" (St. Vincent of Lérins, "The Commonitory")

Oh glorious Martyrs, St. Sergius and St. Bacchus, your courage and love are an inspiration and joy to me. I call upon you now and beseech you to intercede for me to our Lord, God, Christ Almighty. You are the two servants of our Lord, whose trust in the One God, and Holy Trinity, was so great, that neither public humiliation, nor torture,nor even the threat of death could sway you from publicly proclaiming your faith in the Son of the Father, Jesus.Our God showed how proud He was of your love and courage, when after the death of Bacchus, when Sergius,being at his lowest and loneliest, began to lose heart, and so the Lord sent the spirit of Bacchus to Sergiusto allow him to console Sergius with the promise that the two of you would again be together in Heaven. I beseech you now to implore the Lord our God and pray (State your intention here...) and that I may at the end of this life’s journey join you and all of the saints and angels and the elect in Heaven to behold the face of God and to praise God throughout eternity. In return for your help and intercession, I promise to spread the word of your love and courage and devotion to God our Lord. And one final thing, I pray that you be at my sidealong with my guardian angel to guide and guard and encourage me throughout all the days of my life,but especially at those times when life seems to be most difficult and my sufferings seem to be greatest. Pray for me and watch over me St. Sergius and St. Bacchus. Amen.

JoisephBReyes, the information you posted does not appear to be your own work. Please cite your sources. You have 48 hours to comply, otherwise your posts will be flushed of all plagiarised work and your status will be elevated to warned.

-- NebelpfadeSection Moderator

« Last Edit: October 18, 2009, 05:21:52 PM by Nebelpfade »

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As a result of a thousand million years of evolution, the universe is becoming conscious of itself, able to understand something of its past history and its possible future.-- Sir Julian Sorell Huxley FRS

JoisephBReyes, the information you posted does not appear to be your own work. Please cite your sources. You have 48 hours to comply, otherwise your posts will be flushed of all plagiarised work and your status will be elevated to warned.

-- NebelpfadeSection Moderator

Shalom~Peace

Dear Moderator and Readers of The Forum:

1) Pleae accept my humble apologies, but I did not see nor read the first warnings or I may have honestly overlooked it.2) I can not cite the sources because these Words come from me and conveyed to The US Cardinal and Bishops.

JoisephBReyes, the information you posted does not appear to be your own work. Please cite your sources. You have 48 hours to comply, otherwise your posts will be flushed of all plagiarised work and your status will be elevated to warned.

-- NebelpfadeSection Moderator

Shalom~Peace

Dear Moderator and Readers of The Forum:

1) Pleae accept my humble apologies, but I did not see nor read the first warnings or I may have honestly overlooked it.2) I can not cite the sources because these Words come from me and conveyed to The US Cardinal and Bishops.

Are we to understand that you are here to represent 'The Holy Roman Catholic Church' by arguing for the acceptance of same-sex relationships within the Church and their saints? If such is the case, you are standing against a tidal wave of historical opposition to such 'unions' but the Roman Pontiff.

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St Basil the Great (330-379 A.D.): “I think then that the one goal of all who are really and truly serving the Lord ought to be to bring back to union the churches who have at different times and in diverse manners divided from one another.”

I'm not quite sure how some one can posit something as "Holy" or "love" if it runs completely contrary to human nature.

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"For, by its immensity, the divine substance surpasses every form that our intellect reaches. Thus we are unable to apprehend it by knowing what it is. Yet we are able to have some knowledge of it by knowing what it is not." - St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa contra gentiles, I, 14.

JoisephBReyes, the information you posted does not appear to be your own work. Please cite your sources. You have 48 hours to comply, otherwise your posts will be flushed of all plagiarised work and your status will be elevated to warned.

-- NebelpfadeSection Moderator

Shalom~Peace

Dear Moderator and Readers of The Forum:

1) Pleae accept my humble apologies, but I did not see nor read the first warnings or I may have honestly overlooked it.2) I can not cite the sources because these Words come from me and conveyed to The US Cardinal and Bishops.

I hope and pray I have complied to your request...Peace...

Joseph B. Reyes

Do you actually think that the Catholic Church is going to change its views on homosexuality?

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"For, by its immensity, the divine substance surpasses every form that our intellect reaches. Thus we are unable to apprehend it by knowing what it is. Yet we are able to have some knowledge of it by knowing what it is not." - St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa contra gentiles, I, 14.

I don't know why anyone is engaging the crackpot post. There are no sources listed, no credible arguments, and in fact a repetition of an argument posited by a few other discredited historians (and pensate has already referred to). Let the thread die.

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"There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."" Isaac Asimov

JoisephBReyes, the information you posted does not appear to be your own work. Please cite your sources. You have 48 hours to comply, otherwise your posts will be flushed of all plagiarised work and your status will be elevated to warned.

-- NebelpfadeSection Moderator

Shalom~Peace

Dear Moderator and Readers of The Forum:

1) Pleae accept my humble apologies, but I did not see nor read the first warnings or I may have honestly overlooked it.2) I can not cite the sources because these Words come from me and conveyed to The US Cardinal and Bishops.